Haith can't wait to get back to work

Wednesday

Frank Haith was eager to get back to work with his Missouri basketball team after an 18-day absence brought on by an NCAA-mandated suspension for his role in the Miami infractions case.

He was so eager, in fact, that he drove into the office as the suspension lifted at midnight yesterday.

"I stayed about an hour in there doing some stuff," Haith said in a teleconference with reporters.

He was back at Mizzou Arena early yesterday as he put his team through a practice session before the Tigers departed for Las Vegas, where they'll take on Northwestern and Nevada tomorrow and Friday in the Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans Arena. Tipoff for the game against the Wildcats is set for 9:30 CST tomorrow night.

"It feels really good to be back," Haith said. "I'm very humbled about being back. I missed the guys, missed doing what I do. It's truly a blessing to be back on the court with these young men and this coaching staff."

His players were looking forward to his return too after going 5-0 under interim Coach Tim Fuller.

"I really enjoy playing for Coach Fuller. He brought me here, but you know, I love Coach Haith as well, so I feel like everybody will be excited to have him back," junior guard Jabari Brown said after Monday night's victory over IUPUI. "We were playing for him while he was gone, so we're going to continue to do so once he gets back. That'll just be, I feel like, another burst of energy."

Haith was allowed to recruit over the past 2˝ weeks, so he divided his time between being on the road and at home spending extra hours with his wife, Pam, and daughter, Brianna.

He watched Missouri's five games on television all alone.

"I wasn't a fun guy to be around, so I didn't watch it with anybody," Haith said. "I didn't want anybody around me."

He called his forced exile the hardest thing he's gone through in his professional career. But it did allow him a different view to observe the development of his team, which has only three holdovers from last season's regular rotation and includes four freshmen and a junior college transfer.

"We've got a lot of work to do, but there's no perfect team right now," Haith said. "We are undefeated, and that's a positive, but we've got some things we've got to get better with. I think our staff did a really good job under the circumstances, but we've got to be better.

"We are shooting a high percentage, but I think we've got to get better with how we play — our ball movement, our player movement, sharing the ball, playing inside-out."

He sees room for improvement in how the Tigers have rebounded and defended despite pulling down an average of 10.4 more boards than their opponents and holding them to 63.8 points per game and 39.3 percent shooting.

Fuller leaned heavily on Brown, Jordan Clarkson and Earnest Ross during his time in charge, with the three guards each playing more than 30 minutes per game and combining to average 50.2 points.

Haith would like to see Missouri become a little less dependent on the trio going forward. That means easing their workload a little and giving more opportunities to others who've played more sporadically, such as freshmen point guards Wes Clark and Shane Rector, senior forward Tony Criswell and junior college transfer Keanau Post.

"I was pleased and encouraged to see Shane had some good moments, Wes had some good moments, and we can use those guys," Haith said. "I think we've got to get Keanau a couple more minutes, and Tony's got to get more minutes. We need to bring those guys along, because they need to be productive for us, but I have seen some good things out of each one of those guys. It's just they need to build on it."

One player who won't be getting more chances is sophomore forward Stefan Jankovic, who announced his intention to transfer Friday. Haith regrets that his suspension prevented him from talking to Jankovic before finalizing that decision.

"In Stef's case, he wants a larger role, and I think most kids today, there's a microwave society," he said. "They want it quick, and my understanding from the staff, he didn't see that happening."

Freshman Johnathan Williams III and sophomore Ryan Rosburg have each started the first five games in the frontcourt, and Williams especially has made his presence known lately with 17 rebounds on Saturday and a double-double on Monday. The Tigers also have freshman forward Torren Jones, along with Post and Criswell, so they aren't lacking for options even without Jankovic.

All those forwards — like the team as a whole — have a lot of development still ahead of them. They'll get to learn from their first experience playing without a crowd behind them the next two days in Las Vegas as the strength of MU's opponents begins to grow.

"This Vegas trip, I think we play two teams a level higher than what we've played so far, and then we come back and then it's West Virginia, it's UCLA, it's Illinois, it's N.C. State," Haith said. "We've got to make some great strides, and I think we can, I think we will. I'm excited about being back and excited about what's next and see how our guys respond to all the things that's going to be throw at us."

MISSOURI (5-0) Hgt Pts Reb G 5 Jordan Clarkson 6-5 18.8 3.0 G 32 Jabari Brown 6-5 19.2 4.8 G 33 Earnest Ross 6-5 12.2 5.8 F 3 J. Williams III 6-9 7.4 9.2 C 44 Ryan Rosburg 6-10 6.0 4.8 NORTHWESTERN (4-2) Hgt Pts Reb G 1 Drew Crawford 6-5 16.3 8.0 G 3 Dave Sobolweski 6-1 10.8 2.8 G 23 JerShon Cobb 6-5 12.8 4.8 F 34 Sanjay Lumpkin 6-6 5.8 6.8 C 22 Alex Olah 7-0 8.3 4.5 Time: 9:30 p.m. tomorrow Place: Orleans Arena in Las Vegas TV: ESPNU Radio: 1580 AM, 96.7 FM FAST FACTS Missouri is 4-3 all-time against Northwestern, but the teams have not played since Dec. 5, 1968, when the Wildcats scored a 79-67 victory in Evanston, Ill. Northwestern hired former Duke player and longtime assistant coach Chris Collins last spring to lead the program after firing Coach Bill Carmody after 13 seasons. The 39-year-old Collins takes over a program that began in 1901 and hosted the first NCAA championship game in 1939 but has never played in the NCAA Tournament. The school won its only Big Ten Conference title in 1933. This season, the Wildcats were picked to finish 10th in the Big Ten in a preseason poll of the league’s coaches. NU guard Drew Crawford was the media’s choice as the Big Ten freshman of the year in the 2009-10 season and a third-team All-Big Ten selection as a junior in 2011-12. He missed all but 10 games last season after surgery for a shoulder injury, but Crawford has come back strong, averaging 16.3 points.

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